Activating Macbook Pro NumLock does not send numbers to VM

[pingaiter]

Interesting behavior using my MBP 2.33 with Windows XP and Solaris 10 VMs. Instead of passing numbers to the VM, it passes the arrow keys, page up/down and Home and End key equivalents. Can someone else with a Macbook Pro (I'd assume it's the same for Macbook users) verify that this isn't something isolated to my config? If this is indeed a bug, I'll post a bug report but I'd like to get confirmation.

If this is a "feature" then I'd highly recommend VMWare to reconsider or at the very least provide us MB and MBP users the option of toggling between numbers and cursor behavior.

Cheers.

[pingaiter]

Sheesh... forgot to add some technical details:

Running RC1

OS X 10.4.10

MBP C2D 2.33 3GB Ram

[admin]

Your title suggests this but the text didn't say, so I wanted to confirm it - you pressed numlock (Fn-F6 on my MacBook) a couple times, right?

[pingaiter]

Yup, apologies for not being more specific. Were you able to reproduce the bug?

[spfthink]

I have the same problem. The only characters that come through are: - (minus); + (plus); * (multiplication) and / (division). Also on MPP and RC1.

[bgertzfield]

It looks like the laptop Num Lock key doesn't actually send anything to Mac OS X, so Fusion doesn't know that it's been pressed.

Instead, it makes the keyboard hardware send different keys when you press the keys in the keypad area.

A workaround is to use the On-Screen Keyboard in Windows (assuming you're using a Windows guest) and clicking on the Num Lock key inside the guest.

[Rzn8tor]

It looks like the laptop Num Lock key doesn't actually send anything to Mac OS X, so Fusion doesn't know that it's been pressed.

That's does not seem to be correct. It appears that setting Num Lock to "Auto" in the BIOS fixes the problem. Now the num lock key on my MBP internal keyboard works, and the keypad on my external keyboard works.

[hks22]

It looks like the laptop Num Lock key doesn't actually send anything to Mac OS X, so Fusion doesn't know that it's been pressed.

That's does not seem to be correct. It appears that setting Num Lock to "Auto" in the BIOS fixes the problem. Now the num lock key on my MBP internal keyboard works, and the keypad on my external keyboard works.

How does one set Num Lock to Auto in the BIOS on a MBP running Windows XP in Fusion?

[rcardona2k]

How does one set Num Lock to Auto in the BIOS on a MBP running Windows XP in Fusion?

Restart your VM, at the VMware logo screen, quickly press Fn-F2 to enter the BIOS, use the down arrow key to get to Keyboard Features, open that section and you can access the NumLock features. I've attached a screenshot. After changing NumLock to Auto, press Fn-F10 to Save and Exit.

If you need more time to press F2 to enter the BIOS, try reading the Boot Delay section in

[hks22]

Didn't know you could get into the BIOS like a PC. Thanks.

I changed NumLock to Auto as you described, but it still doesn't work. The /, *, -,+ keys work, but the number keys don't. This is in Microsoft Word and Excel 2007 and Scientific Notebook. I went back into the BIOS to double check that it was indeed Auto and it was. I also tried the On and Off settings. They didn't work either. It works fine on the OS X side. 0123456789 was done with the num lock key (F6) pressed and lit. I have left the Auto setting in the BIOS.

[rcardona2k]

With the NumLock key on (F6), try typing the regular "6^" key (note: it has a little c symbol on it too). See if this toggles the rest of the numbers.

[hks22]

You are a genius! Pressing the 6 key with the little "c" on it toggles the keys between numbers and directions. Perfect! Thanks very much.

[rcardona2k]

You are a genius! Pressing the 6 key with the little "c" on it toggles the keys between numbers and directions. Perfect! Thanks very much.

Thanks, I'm just a user like you. Glad you got it working.